You guys know I'm a Purple pilot, right?
And, no, my comment isn't in any way whatsoever "relish[ing] the fact that people's livelihoods are on the line". My paycheck and livelihood comes from the exact same place as the people I'm commenting on, and I have precisely the same risk as they do.
I'm talking about being amused at individuals who were making comments based on emotional kneejerk reactions and not on logic or facts.
Guess I'm just a "real weirdo" that I'm interested in actual information rather than making wild assumptions.
But none of that was the point of my post.
I haven't had the same "fun" watching and listening to my coworkers melt down over it. People are scared. Families will be affected. The trajectory of this company is very concerning.
As Mike has noticed with the guys he flies with, I'm in the camp of "scared". I'm not freaking out or losing my sh*t just yet, but I'm certainly not whistling past the graveyard.
I left a legacy carrier after almost 9 years to come to what I still feel is my dream job. I had always wanted to be here and I'm still thankful every day I'm here. But, at the end of the day, I'm junior.
I've researched and watched FedEx for over a decade and enough before I got the opportunity to come here. I was so excited the day I started class...walking into the AOTC Auditorium and seeing my ID sitting there with an MD-11 lanyard on it, My dream had come true. I was flying a most righteous airplane that I always wanted to fly, painted in the colors of an airline that I had to wanted to fly for for years! I remember smiling as former ACP MG stood in front of us and told us how many FedEx was going to hire. I remember the feeling of how this wasn't my former company, run by accountants (and Lorenzo in khakis) and driven by stock price and D-0. I remember thinking how this was going to be so different.
Today? I'm not so sure. Do I still love my job and do I still love coming to work? You bet your ass I do! Is this the airline that I researched, jump seated on and fell in love with? Absolutely not. I'm watching dysfunction at the union level that nearly rivals the 2 most dysfunction unions on the planet (both of which I came from...USAPA and APA). I'm watching it all play out in real time and when I try to speak advice to people making the same mistakes I've made before, it falls on deaf ears and I'm basically told to shut up and color (gee...where have I heard that before?).
Will the corporation continue to make money hand over fist? Of course it will. Will it do with pilots? I'm not so sure of that.
I, too, want actual information. Unfortunately, Hacks Cross isn't providing any and what I heard on Friday from the SIG isn't giving me warm and fuzzies. I'm almost 44. Could I start over again? Sure. Have I thought about it in the last couple of days? I'm not going to lie that the thought of moving my employment up the road to Louisville hasn't been on my mind, but I'm not ready to pull that trigger just yet.
I have 2 and half years of seniority here. I have around 600-ish people underneath me. My take? End of the day? I'm junior and I'm scared.